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Copy 1 



ANTIQUITIES 



OF 



PORTSMllTH AM IICINIIY: 



WITH 



SOME SPECULATIONS 

UPON 



HE pRIGIN AND PeSTINY OF THE yVloUND jSuiLDERS. 

/ 

BY G. S. B. HEMPSTEAD, A. M., M. D. 



PORTSMOUTH, OHIO : 
McFarland & Elick, Publishers. 
1875. 



I 



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, . - . . y ^ y^y-' ^^^^^ ^ 

J 



ANTIQUITIES OF PORTSMOUTH AND VICINITY. 



At the present day archaeology is re- 
ceiving niuch attention in all parts of 
the civilized world, and great interest 
is manifested to become acquainted with 
the people of pre-historic times. "This 
science was known and studied five 
hundred years before the present era," 
but until the seventeenth century phi- 
losophers had not decided whether fos- 
sils were "the sports of Nature or relics 
of once living beings." So preposterous 
were the ideas of many at that time, 
"that some gravely maintained that the 
bones of elephants" were "those of fallen 
angels." "It was reserved for Cuvier 
and his successors to dispel this delusion, 
open the book of nature, rich, with the 
relics of primeval ages, and enable the 
archffiologist to commence his studies 
with a knowledge of the forms and 
characteristics of the animals of the 
pre-adamite or antedeluvian world." 

Among the aids to the study of archae- 
ology are the remains of" weapons, 
utensils, ornaments, fossils, and fabrics 
of earth, stone and bronze, which men 
had worked out, each tor himself or all 
combined. These materials furnished 
ample room for development of skill in 
w^orkmanship, progressing from the 
stone age to the of age metal. The stone 
age comprises theepoch of the mammoth, 
the cave bear, the cave lion, the hairy 
rhinoceros, the rein deer, or migrating 
animals, and the rough stone era ; this 
soon gave place to the polished stone 
era, or the epoc'h of tamed animals ; and 
this latter vv'as soon followed by the met- 
alic age, which comprises the period 
from the smooth stone age to the epoch 
of copper, bronze, tin, iron and other 
metals. Coeval with the stone age are 
the ancient mounds and earth-works so 
numerous in the central parts of the 
United States. These diminish as we 
approach the Atlantic, and are very 
scarce in British America and west of 
the Rocky Mountains. 

Upon examination of these ancient 
embankments, it is diffiicult to conceive 
what useful purpose they could subserve 
in their present shape; either as a pro- 
tection against enemies, or as enclosures 



against wild animals, as many of them, 
at their earliest examination, were not 
over from 3 to 8 feet in height with a 
base of about 30 feet. As early as 1806 
I had frequent opportunities of examin- 
ing many of these embankments in our 
State; and from circumstances which 
occurred at that time I am satisfied that 
in their entirety they presented an ap- 
pearance very different from what they 
now do. When passing over these em- 
bankments, on horse-back, my horse 
would frequently break through the sur- 
face and sometimes fall. This occurred 
so often I became curious to know why 
these embankments were so insecure. 
Upon examination I found a cavity 
which had been occupied by two sticks 
of timber, paralel to each other; these 
had decayed and left the surface earth 
without support. This with some other 
facts, tending to the same conclusion, 
has convinced me that the parallel walls, 
and perhaps the mound, were first con- 
structed of timber, held together by 
cross ties and filled with surface earth. 
Thus constructed they would have been 
a protection against the approach of en- 
emies and a perfect barrier against the 
encroachments and ravages of the large 
animals of that period. Constructed in 
that manner there is suflBcient earth to 
have made a wall 4 feet thick and 20 or 
30 feet high, equal to all purposes for 
which they might have been built. 

The ancient implements, earth-works 
and cairns of North America differ more 
in degree than in kind from similar re- 
mains in other countries, they are more 
numerous, more concentrated, and in 
many respects, on a larger scale of labor 
than"^ works and implements of this 
kind in Europe. Their numbers may 
be the result of frequent changes of res- 
idence, caused by the visitation of some 
great calamity; but I incline to the 
opinion that these are attributable to the 
numerical density of their population ; 
for those works clearly indicate a thickly- 
inhabited country, and a period suf- 
ficiently long for progressive enlarg- 
ment and extension. The antiquities 
may be divided into two grand divis- 



4 



ANTIQUITIES OF 



ions, their implements, including orna- 
ments, and their earth-works; to the lat- 
ter I propose to give more particolar 
attention in these papers. These earth- 
works may be thus classified ; 1st. In- 
closures to protect them and their crops 
from the large animals that existed at 
that period. 2d, Sepulchral, saerificiai 
and temple mounds. 3d. Animal 
mounds, and 4th, Hunting grounds for 
trapping large animals and securing 
them for sport or food. 

That they had no enemies of their own 
kind is evident from the fact that there 
are no remains of camps, forts or coun- 
ter works anywhere to be found in 
Southern Ohio, and their weapons are 
all of a kind that could be used, princi- 
pally, against animals existing at that 
time, or to procure food. Their imple- 
ments of warfare were only arrow points 
and spear heads,— no battle axes, no 
breast plates, no shields, no clubs of any 
kind have ever been found; even the 
plates of copper, occasionally turned up 
by the plow, are rather to be classed 
* among ornaments or badges of olSce, 
than as protections for the person. 

The implements of bone and stone 
found in one region are perfect samples 
of those found all over North America. 
The flint scales, hatchets, axes, arrow 
and spear heads, etc., are a facsimile ot 
those which occur on the western por- 
tion of the eastern continent, and differ 
none from those found in the Swiss 
lakes, in Norway, Denmark, England, 
France and Ireland, if proper allowance 
be made for the difference of material, 
variety of articles and elaborate finish. 
Those of America being far more numer- 
ous and distinguished by more personal 
ornaments, more badges of office and a 
finer finish than those of the eastern con- 
tinent; showing, in my opinion, that 
the mound-builders of the West were 
much more enlightened and civilized 
than their eastern brethren, before en- 
tering upon the bronze age, which, no 
doubt, occurred at an earlier period on 
this continent than it did in Europe. 

These articles differ much in construc- 
tion; some are quite rough but preserv- 
ing the outline, others smooth and high- 
ly polished ; some perforated, others not ; 
the former indicating a faulty work- 
manship or lack of skill ; or, perhaps, 
were in an unfinished state when thrown 
aside. 

Many archseologists incline to the 
opinion that the perforated axes of Europe 
belonged to the metalic age, and that 
the nations of Central America were in 
an age of bronze, while the North 
Americans were in a condition of which 



we find in Europe scanty traces, — nazue- 
ly, ae age of copper. 

This may be explained by taking'a 
different view, which appears quite as 
plausible. The mound-builders discov- 
ered copper here sooner than their an- 
cestors did in Europe, and previous to 
their descendants in Central America, 
who took with them to that country 
their knowledge of this metal when 
they emigrated from the North. There 
is very little doubt that the primitive 
inhabitants of this country were, for a 
series of years, in the occupancy of this 
valley before they discovered copper, 
and they had progressed but little in its 
use before that great event occurred 
which drove them to the southern por- 
tions of our continent. Here their orna- 
ments of copper were all brought into 
shape by the hammer; while in Arkan- 
sas and Texasmanyof them were formed 
by melting and moulding them into 
shape. It is inferred, and justly too, 
that the elaborate, ditficult and careful 
manipulation required in the process of 
moulding, melting and casting were 
more recent than that of hammering ; 
hence, we believe this people emigrated 
to this portion of our continent before 
the southern parts were peopled. 

There is in their works in Texas a 
manifest improvement which continues 
into Mexico and Central America where 
the remains of the finest specimens of 
stone edifices are still to be found, equal- 
ing in architectural finish many of a 
later period. It is not probable that the 
mound- builders emigrating from Cen- 
tral America and Mexico would have 
gone back in their knowledge of the use 
of stone, when that material was as 
abundant here as in the South. 

Among their ornaments the pipe was, . 
probably, one of their earliest appliances 
of luxury ; and it is evident, from the 
great skill which they attained in its 
manufacture, and the immense numbers 
found, that its use was universal. Many 
of them manufactured from the hardest 
stone, and wrought into a variety of ar- 
tistic forms, equaling, in many instances, 
the mechanical skill of the present day. 
The number of these articles is perfectly 
astounding. 

One of the tumuli opened, in what has 
been called Mound City, in the Scioto 
valley, contained two hundred pipes, 
many pearl and shell beads, numerous 
dishes and some tubes of copper covered 
with silver. The pipes were composed 
of porphyritic stone, resembling the red 
pipe stone of the "Coteaure des Praires." 
I believe it is generally conceded that 
this pipe stone, when first taken from 
the quarry, is soft and easily cut into 



POUTSMOUTH AND VICINITY. 



5 



shape ; but upon exposure to the atmos- 
phere becomes very hard, so hard that a 
tile has little effect upon it. Upon the 
bowls of many of these pipes were 
carved, in miniature, figures of animals, 
birds, reptiles, etc., — the features of the 
various objects are represented with 
strict fidelity to nature and with exqui- 
site skill. The habits of some of these 
animals are as faithfully delineated as 
their features. Sir John Lubboc says, 
in his Prehistoric Times, that, from the 
number of pipes found and their perfect 
execution, it is evident that pipe-carv- 
ing was, no doubt, a regular profession, 
and that the division of labor had al- 
ready begun. 

Exactly the same feeling, which in- 
duces many savage nations to bury 
weapons with the dead hunter, that he 
may supply himself with food and com- 
forts in a future world, as he did in this, 
is similar to that among some ancient 
nations who placed money in the graves 
of the dead. This would account for the 
presence of these pipes; for, perhaps 
then as now, if the pipe seller could dis- 
pose of his pipes in the grave, he might 
render his whole stock in trade more 
available. 

One of the largest mounds yet opened 
is at Grave creek, West Virginia, which 
was, no doubt, sepulchral. One of the 
skeletons was accompanied by 1700 bone 
beads, 500 sea shells and 50 pieces of 
mica, besides other articles. In the me- 
dium sized mounds, or those between 
the small, or sepulchral, and the large, 
or temple mounds, large quantities of 
carbonaceous matter are found, such as 
would be produced in ashes of leaves, 
wood or grass after being burned ; this 
leads many to suppose that human sac- 
rifices were there offered up, and that 
the rites were similar to those of the Az- 
tecs ; but others insist that this opinion 
is .sustained by insufficient testimony ; 
and rather conclude that these appear- 
ances were produced by the cremation 
of the dead, as is practiced by many na- 
tions in historic times. 

The temple mounds are pyramidal 
structures, truncated, having a flat top 
of greater or lesser area. Some of these 
are terraced and others have graded av- 
enues to the summit. One of the largest 
and most remarkable of these is found 
in Illinois. It is stated to be 700 ft. long, 
oOO ft. wide and 90 ft. high ; the solid 
contents of this pile of earth has been 
estimated to contain 20,000,000 cubic ft. 

These large accummulations of earth, 
which are found all over Ohio and the 
"West, lead me to speak of the hill, 
known as Kinney's Hill, in the rear of 
and upon a part of which Col. P. Kin- 



ney's residence is situated. This is a 
most remarkable structure, being in 
length, from southeast to northwest, 
about 5,137 feet, in elevation about 234 
feet above the second terrace, and with 
a base of not less than 300 feet. From 
this immense structure 5 spurs or arms 
extend, making an addition of 4,877 feet 
to the accumulation of earth in this pile. 
From the summit you command the 
view of the whole valley for miles 
around. The length of this hill, includ- 
ing the arms, is about 20,014 feet, almost 
4 miles, with bases of from 100 feet to 
1320 feet. The purposes for which these 
were erected cannot now be known ; 
but it is probable it was the residence 
of the chiefs and magnates of this peo- 
ple. No exploration of this magnificent 
pile has ever been made with a view to 
scientific disclosures, so far as I can as- 
certain, and the first survey ever made 
was about one year ago, by R. A. Bry- 
an, Esq., Civil Engineer of the city, who 
also took elevations at the same time. 
There are many reasons for believmg 
this work to be artificial. The regular 
strata of rocks, found in the adjacent 
river hills, are absent in this. I learn 
that a quarry was once opened in this 
hill, about two thirds of its height from 
the base, but have not been able to as- 
certain whether these rocks had been 
conveyed there in masses to fill up in 
the structure of the pile, or were once a 
lower spur of the river hills, whose con- 
nection with the river range had been 
removed, and placed upon this pile, to 
increase its elevation. This conclusion 
I think quite probable, from the fact 
that the amount of earth removed from 
the space intervening between this edi- 
fice and the river system of hills is suf- 
ficiently large to make the present struc- 
ture ; but what they did with the strata of 
rocks contained in the portion removed 
I cannot conjecture, unless, as before 
stated, they were placed in the hill to 
increase its dimensions and dispose of 
this surplus material. Nothing but a 
careful exploration of this immense pile 
can solve the problem. This structure 
has no evidences of having been used as 
a place of worship; but, as before in- 
timated, was erected as a foundation for 
the edifices of the chiefs of this wonder- 
ful race. From the highest point of this 
elevation they could survey the valleys 
of the Scioto and Ohio rivers, and could 
see and know all that was transpiring 
within the range of vision. They, prob- 
-ably, had signals by which they could 
convey intelligence to the elevated sta- 
tions in other parts of the valley, and, if 
necessary, arouse the whole population. 
If the timber was removed, we might 



6 



ANTIQUITIES OF 



see from this elevation, the works at 
Pond creek, the old fort, the temple 
mound, the works at our County Fair 
Grounds, and the tops of all the large 
mounds east and west of this point. 
These high mounds and projectino^ head 
lands (the latter of which have been so 
manipulated as to become, to some ex- 
tent, isolated from the river hills) were, 
no doubt, constructed to convey intel- 
ligence, by signals, along the valleys and 
over the high lands. It is said by those 
who have examined this system of sig- 
nal stations, that from the mound at 
Norwood, in the Great Miami valley, 
signals could be passed from the valley 
of Mill creek to the Little Miami valley, 
near Newton, and through the Great 
Miami valley to Hamilton, in Butler 
county. Squier and Davis say there are 
a series of signal mounds along the Sci- 
oto river, across Boss county, extending 
down into Pike and up into Pickaway 
counties. Mr. Sullivant, of Columbus, 
sa>s he traced a series of these signal 
stations, along the Scioto river, entirely 
across Franklin County to Pickaway, 
and he has no doubt that a careful ex- 
amination would show a continuous 
chain of stations from Delaware county 
to Portsmouth in Scioto county; my 
observations in Scioto and Pike counties 
confirm his suppositions. It is quite 
credible to say that messages of alarm, 
and perhaps others might have been 
conveyed by these stations as soon as 
they are now by telegraph, but very 
probably not in the same way, nor 
would they be as lucid and comprehen- 
sive; yet, for alarm and some other 
purposes might be quite as intelligible. 
This system of telegraphing, if such it 
might be called, leads me to enquire, by 
what kind of civil policy were they gov- 
erned ?— Were all the settlements 'under 
one chief, or head? Or were they unit- 
ed by a kind of federal union ; each pal- 
atinate, to a certain extent, indepen- 
dent of the others? I incline to the affirm- 
ative of the last of these questions ; that 
the whole was under one chief (and he 
a despot) with subordinate governors 
residing at the different localities; else 
these signal stations could not be of any 
value nor very reliable, and might be 
very unsafe. Without this kind of gov- 
ernment they could not have accom- 
plished the immense work they have ; 
for, no wealth, however great, no ex- 
penditure, however lavish, could meet 
the expenses which would have been 
incurred, if they had been the work of 
free tnen who received for their labor a 
fair and honest compensation. Much of 
this uncompensated labor has been done 
in this world, and not a little in ourown 



country, outside of that performed by ' 
the mound-builders. ' 

It is to such a condition of society, a ' 
condition based on human slavery, that ' 
we trace the origin of all these monu- ' 
ments of antiquity ; wonderful in their ' 
vastness, but, to us aimless in their ob- ' 
jects. We are lost in wonder and aston- ' 
ishment, when we are told that 2,000 ' 
men were occupied for three years in i ' 
moving a single stone from Elephantine 
to Sais on the Nile ; that the canal of ' 
the Red Sea, alone, cost the lives of 120,- 

000 Egyptians ; and to build one of the 
pyramids required the labor of 360,000 ' 
men for 20 years. When we read of the 
great high-ways of the Peruvians, ma- , 
cadamized or paved with flat stones, ex- 
tending a thousand miles, connecting ' 
together the most distant points of the ; 
empire; of the princely palaces of the 
Incas, constructed of dressed stone, sup- i ' 
plied with aqueducts of costly struc- i 
ture; of the terraced pyramids of Cho- i ' 
lula in Mexico, 172 feet in height with a 
base of 1335 feet, almost double that of 
the great pyramid of Egypt, covering 
with its brick work an area of 45 acres ; ' 
of the platform mound of Cahokia in the 
Mississippi valley, supposed to contain i 
one-fourth the cubic contents of the great 
pyramid of Ghizeh, in Egypt; of the 
mound at Grave Creek, nearly equal to 
the third pyramid of Egypt, or that of 
Mycerinus; and when w^e look upon the 
vast pile heaped up on the third terrace ' 
north of our town, we are forced to the ' 
inevitable and sad conclusion that the in- , I 
dustry of the great mass of the popula- ' 
tion was at the command of the few ; ' 
and that the condition of society, among 
the mound-builders, was not that of free 
men, or, in other words, that the State 
possessed absolute power over the lives 
and fortunes of its subjects. i 

How much labor or how much time' 
the mound-builders bestowed upon these j 
extensive monuments in our vicinity, i 
no one knows, and, perhaps, no one ever 
will know; yet, I do not despair that i 
pictorials, hieroglyphics, or some kind s 
of writing will some day be found, that i 
may be deciphered, and give us the I 
whole history of this wonderful people, t 

1 cannot believe a race, so far advanced, 1 
in civilization as were the mound-build-l j 
ers, could exist without some method,, I 
other than tradition, to perpetuate im-; 
portant events in their history. ' \ 

The temple mound in Kentucky,; ' 
about four miles above Portsmouth, is r 
situated upon the second terrace and 1; 
connected by parallel embankments with i 
the extensive works on this side of the I 
Ohio river. There is a graded avenue [ 
passing spirally to the top, which is flat|u 



PORTSMOUTH AND VICINITY. 



7 



and has an area of some twelve or fifteen 
feet in diameter; it has three segment- 
ary embankments and ditches, with 
four avenues at right angles, only one 
of which passes the inner ditch, the oth- 
ers stop at that point, and the mound 
can only be gained by crossing the inner 
trench. The top of'^the mound can be 
seen from any of these embankments 
or trenches, and full knowledge be ob- 
tained of all that transpires on the sum- 
mit, where, no doubt, religious rites 
were performed. The whole arrange- 
ment is peculiarly well adapted to the 
celebration of some of the religious cere- 
monies practiced by ancient nations. 

Offering sacrifices were common to 
most barbarians, and the history of the 
Jews furnishes us with numerous in- 
stances of the altars being located on 
*'high places." An avenue (flanked on 
either side by an embankment) from 
this mound extends in a north-westerly 
direction to the Ohio river, and is con- 
tinued to the central works at the Fair 
Grounds, in length about four and three 
quarter miles. From this last point, 
south-west, to the "Old Fort" is about 
four and a quarter miles. The parallel 
walls, extending north-west from the 
Fair Grounds to the Scioto valley, are 
one and one-quarter miles of earth-em- 
bankments, and these all duplicated, 
giving us about twenty and one half 
miles of earth-work, forty feet wide at 
the base, and three feet high. It is bare- 
ly possible that the parallel walls ex- 
tending south-east, south-west and north 
west were made in vain, but it is more 
probable they were intended for some 
useful purpose ; besides serving as an 
inclosure to protect their crops, they 
might have been used as a way to the 
various important points to which they 
tend,— to the temple mound, to the 
hunting ground, and to the animal 
mound, and to the works in that vicin- 
ity. 

From the fact that none of these works 
are located on the first terrace, it would 
seem this first terrace was not yet formed 
and that it w^as covered by water ; of 
this I can have no doubt, as this first 
terrace on the Scioto and Ohio rivers 
has risen a number of inches, and in 
places feet have been added since I first 
became acquainted with them. 

These works, exclusive of the labor 
bestowed upon the temple mound, the 
"Old Fort," the works west of the Scioto 
river, including the animal mound, the 
large mound at Union ville, the one 
north of Kinney's hill, Greenbriar hill, 
Lawson's cemetery and others; with 
the immense amount of labor bestowed 
upon the faces of the hills for miles up 



and down the valleys of the Ohio and 
Scioto, give us some idea of the vast re- 
sources of this people. 

The title "Old Fort," I consider a mis- 
nomer. Messrs. Squier and Davis had 
doubts in regard to this spot being a 
place of defence, for they say, "if this 
ibrt is not a place of defence, we must 
seek some other explanation of its pur- 
pose." A careful examination of this 
locality must satisfy any one that it was 
never intended for a protection against 
enemies from without, and a variety of 
reasons may be offered that this conclu- 
sion is correct. First, as has been before 
said, from the fact that there are no re- 
mains of camps or counter-works any- 
where to be found in the vicinity of this 
fort, and the same may be said of all the 
works in Southern Ohio. Second, why 
place this work so far from the center of 
population, with no evidence of any oc- 
cupants south-west of it for many miles ? 
Had this people found it necessary to 
repair to this shelter for safety, they 
would have found it extremely incon- 
venient. A large river to pass would 
have been no inconsiderable hindrance 
in gaining this place of protection ; ad- 
mit that the parallel walls extending 
from the main settlement south wester- 
ly, would have protected them in their 
retreat, yet the river would still be a 
great impediment to their progress. I 
do not profess to have much knowledge 
of defences of this kind ; but it would 
seem to me to be the dictate of plain 
common sense, that a retreat of this sort 
should be placed where it would be easy 
of access, and no impediment in the way 
to hinder or retard any one whose ex- 
posure or insecurity required him to seek 
protection within its walls. Third, it 
was evidently never intended to keep 
anything out, but is well calculated to 
keep anything in, after it has once been 
placed there. The whole work may be 
commanded and securely held from the 
river hills, in close proximity, on the 
south-east side, where the wall is not 
elevated above the surrounding surface 
more than one or two feet, while on the 
inner side it is twenty-five feet in height. 
An enemy, having gained this eminence, 
could annoy those within, with arrows 
and spears, from all parts of the em- 
bankments. 

From these inclosurcs there is no 
means by which those from without could 
be assailed, except from the gateways 
or the top of the walls — either of which 
would be of doubtful expediency. In 
fact there is no possible way they could 
destroy their assailants, except by a 
combat on the open plain and exposing 
themselves severely. If these are facts, 



8 



ANTIQUITIES OF 



and this reasoning legitimate, why build 
a fort of this kind or go into it for 
protection? Those within threatened 
with starvation every hour, while those 
without have full supplies of food and 
water from all quarters. Besides, how 
could they ever have built these exten- 
sive, yes, "l may say these immense works, 
if they had enemies, of their own kind 
so numerous and important as to require 
a fort of such dimensions for protection 
when attacked, an asylum into which 
they might retreat when an enemy 
appeared ? The idea is preposterous ; if 
they had enemies sufficient in numbers 
to require a retreat of this kind, they 
could never have built even such a work 
as we find "the old fort" in Kentucky 
to be, much less those which we find in 
our midst. If this was a place of defence 
and retreat, why those long arras ex- 
tending more than a mile from north-east 
to south-west, with parallels only six rods 
apart? No, they were a peaceful, civil, 
industrious and laborious people, with 
nothing to molest or disturb. Their 
security, their leisure and their numbers 
justified them in devising and carrying 
to completion all the works we find 
scattered over our state and throughout 
the whole west; else they could never 
have erected those extensive structures 
we now find all over the country. These 
immense piles of earth, still patent 
among us, notwithstanding the desola- 
ting progress of civilization, testify to 
their immense numbers, their indomi- 
table perseverance and their unceasing 
toil. Again, their labors were not con- 
fined to those special earth works, 
mounds, elevated squares, parallel walls 
and other conformations so interesting 
to us, but they leveled and symmetrized 
the faces of all our hills and cultivated 
successfully all our valleys. Any one 
who will carefully examine the eleva- 
tions opposite the city of Portsmouth, 
when the foliage is removed, must con- 
clude that the surface has been manip- 
ulated by the hand of man long before 
the Anglo-Saxon stepped upon our soil. 
Those terraces were never made by the 
lazy and unprofitable Indians we found 
occupying the country when we took 
possession, neither did they come by 
natural causes, but are part and parcel 
of the labors of that great people whose 
works we survey with wonder and ad- 
miration. View carefully the outlines 
of the immediate valley of the Ohio, as 
you pass from Portsmouth to Ashland, 
in the spring season. You will find 
the northern and southern faces of the 
hills so constructed as to prevent the 
access of those large animals, which 
were numerous all over the country, ex- 



cept by the ravines which break into 
the valley, and these ravines are almost 
without an exception, guarded by a 
large mound, or some isolated spur of 
the river range, or by precipitous hill- 
sides so steep and ravines so narrow that 
an elephant, mastodon or rhinoceros 
could not with safety enter the valley. 
The whole surface of the valleys and 
hills has not the expression of nature, 
but manifestly shows the hand of man 
wherever the eye rests. From this 
point to the Little Scioto there are but 
few openings through which these large 
animals could gain access to the valley, 
and these are so narrow at their base, 
either where they open into the valley 
or at their commencement, with sides so 
precipitous that invasions from these 
animals from without must have been 
few and far between,— when we reflect 
how easily they could be turned and 
greatly annoyed from the acclivities of 
these hill-sides by the spears and bows 
and arrows of their assailants. 

From the Little Scioto to the high 
sandy bluff just above Pine Creek, on 
the Haverhill turnpike, the formation of 
the surface of the hills is peculiar. The 
river ranges seem to disappear, and in 
their places we have lower elevations, 
more rounded and very symmetrical. 
The western face of the hill on the east 
side of the Little Scioto is very high and 
precipitous; gradually sloping off as it 
progresses eastward, until the surface 
assumes a beautiful undulating form, 
admirably adapted to domicils or culti- 
vation, continuing till you come to the 
bluff above Pine Creek. 

In the neighborhood of Wheelersburg 
are some of those delicately rounded 
hills and ridges affording the finest 
locations for residences to be found any 
where in the valley. 

Near Franklin Furnace the hills as- 
sume a more elevated aspect and become 
more precipitous. The character of the 
hills is similar on both sides of the Ohio, 
from Portsmouth to the eastern line 
of the county, and for some distance 
above, the ranges of river hills, to my 
eye, present a sufficient barrier to the 
rapid entrance or exit of those large ani- 
mals into or from the immediate valley 
of the Ohio. These ranges of hills in- 
close within their borders three or more 
spacious valleys, containing many 
thousands of acres of, the finest land in 
the world. 

When speaking of the so-called "Old 
Fort," I said I considered the title, 
"Old Fort," a misnomer, and gave ray 
reasons for that conclusion. I shall now 
proceed to give my views as to the uses 
and objects of this work, and endeavor to 



PORTSMOUTH AND VICINITY. 



9 



show the grounds upon which I base my 
opinions. There are many good reasons 
and some strong arguments to show that 
this structure was intended to entrap, to 
secure and to hunt those hirge animals 
which roamed over the hills and ranged 
through the valleys at that time. Into 
this inclosure they would entice, by 
stratagem and deposits of food, those 
animals, and keep them in reserve for 
food or sport. At the same time they 
could give notice to ah in that region to 
assemble for a general hunt, a day of 
relaxation and sport, and a plentiful 
supply of food. Thn numerous gate- 
ways furnish abundant means of en- 
trance from without ; by these, with the 
proper food placed within, and, perhaps, 
domestic or tamed animals of the same 
kind, used as decoys, any number might 
be secured within these inclosures. Its 
remote position from the main settle- 
ment — there being no evidence of occu- 
pancy by this people for miles in the 
direction of the river, south-westerly, — 
and its peculiar adaptation to accom- 
modate large numbers of persons at the 
same time in perfect security, ail taking 
an equal part in the amusement, point 
it out as a place of pleasure and profit. 
Animals secured in this inclosure could 
be kept for any length of time, and 
slaughtered only as they might be 
needed for food. If the gates were left 
open and one or more of these large 
animals wandering in, as soon as any 
were fairly within the inclosure they 
could he seen from all the high points 
located throughout the valley, and in- 
telligence communicated to those whose 
duty it might be to close the gates and 
secure the game. Then, from the tops 
of the walls, thousands could enjoy the 
excitement and partake in the work 
of destruction. When an animal was 
killed if there were more in the in- 
closure they could be driven into other 
parts of the space inclosed and kept 
there for another day of sport. 

That the mastodon and mammoth 
were both good for food is satisfactorily 
settled, as many have been found in 
Siberia, frozen in the ice, within the last 
few years, and eaten by the natives of 
that region. One was found entire and 
in a perfect state of preservation, per- 
haps thousands of years after its death, 
and its skeleton, with the skin and hairy 
covering, are now preserved in the 
museum of the Russian capital. The 
animals of this period were the mas- 
todon, mammoth, the woolly rhinoceros, 
the reindeer, cave bear, cave lion, the 
extinct horse, with the megalonyx, 
megatherium, mylodon, and others of 
the sloth family. All these animals, 



except the reindeer, which is now 
confined to the extreme north, have 
disappeared, and are no longer s 'en 
among us. These large animals, except 
the horse and reindeer, were built for , 
strength, and not for speed or rapid 
locomotion. 

To the mound builders the sloth fam- 
ily were no doubt of much service 
in clearing the land of the heavy growth 
of timber, which we have every reason 
to believe was at that time quite mas- 
sive. They were provided with claws 
resembling the horns of the ox, with 
which they loosened the roots of the 
largest trees ; and attaching themselves 
to the higher branches, by their weight 
they swayed them backward and for- 
ward until they fell prostrate and were 
consumed for food. Fancy one of these 
lary:e animals attemping to enter the 
valley proper of the Ohio, through these 
narrow ravines with their precipitous 
•sides, or coming down the declivities of 
the river range of hills, how easily they 
could be annoyed, turned or captured 
by agile, active men, placed on the sides 
of these steeply sloping acclivities with 
the simple bow and arrow and spear. 

If these views are correct, there were 
thousands of acres of the immediate 
valley of the Ohio perfectly protected 
from the incursions of these destructive 
animals, and left free to productive cul- 
tivation. These eminences in all cases 
being guarded by grades of not less than 
forty-flve degrees elevation, the only 
exceptions being the long, easy slopes 
made for their own special convenience 
and duly protected. 

The area of land inclosed by the par- 
allels extending from the fair grounds 
north-west and south-west contains about 
five hundred acres of the best of land 
laying upon the second terrace. The 
amount contained betvv^een the south- 
west and south-east embankments is 
about one thousand acres. All contained 
within these limits was no doubt 
specially set apart for the use of the 
principal men who controlled, governed 
and directed the affairs of this immense 
nation, spreading up and down the 
valley of the Ohio for many miles. 

That there were two races, consisting 
of a dominant and a servile class, cannot 
be doubted; for the physiological 
difference between the skulls found 
shows conclusively this fact. Those 
found in the small mounds are uniform 
in character, being of the brachoceph- 
alous kind— wide from ear to ear, and 
short from before backward; in other 
words, a round head. Others have been 
found in gravel banks and other 
places, apparently buried without much 



10 



ANTIQUITIES OF 



reo^ularity or ceremony, of the dolicho- 
caphalous cast — lon^; from before back- 
ward, and short from ear to ear, with 
the retreating- forehead. 

The sepulchral, sacrificial and temple 
mounds may all be j^rouped together, 
the smaller ones for the burial of their 
distinguished dead and the larger for 
cremation purposes. I infer this from 
the fact that not more than two entire 
skeletons have been found in any one 
mound ; oftener a single one than any 
other number. Some sixty years ago I 
assisted in opening eighteen or twenty 
mounds, having an elevation of from 
three to eight or nine feet, in two of 
which we found two skeletons each, in 
both cases a male and a female. In 
others were found the remains of the 
dead, but no evidences of plurality. In 
the larger ones were proofs of cremation 
—charcoal, ashes, burned earth and parts 
of bones, none entire except the pha- 
langes of the feet and hands. These 
were quite numerous, indicating that 
more than one body had been burned. 
An occasional lower jaw bone in an en- 
tire state was found, and so large as to 
pass freely over the lower jaw of the 
largest and best developed young man 
in our company. The smaller were 
used for a cemetery alone, and the larger 
evidently connected with some religious 
rites where fire was an important agent. 
The temple mounds were no doubt re- 
served for great and solemn occasions 
where large assemblies were congre- 
gated, and where peculiar rites and cer- 
emonies were practiced. 

It is very ditficult, almost impossible, 
to conjecture for what purpose the ani- 
mal mounds were erected. To suppose 
they were built for mere amusement is 
not within the range of probability, and 
that they had some religious or useful 
purpose there cannot be a doubt. Now 
what was that purpose? Were they 
built as foundations for dwellings, or 
storehouses for the products of the soil, 
and was that form adopted from a su- 
perstitious idea that it would placate the 
animal whose form they represented? 
Or were they the representations of an- 
imals which these people worshiped? 
Or were they intended to perpetuate 
some great historical event? For what 
purpose these monuments were erected 
as yet we know not. The contents of 
these animal mounds do not assist us 
in this inquiry. Many of them have 
been opened or entirely removed, but 
the only result has been to show that 
they ^re not sepulchral, and that, ex- 
cepting by accident, they contain no 
implements or ornaments. Under these 
circumstances speculation is useless, and 



we must wait, and hope that time and 
perseverance may yet solve the problem 
and explain the nature of these re- 
markable and mysterious monuments. 

The small mounds and the cremation 
mounds were not the only repositories 
of the dead; large fields are found lit- 
erally filled with the remains of the 
departed. One field, on the second ter- 
race, directly west of the termination of 
the northwest parallels, containing six 
or seven acres, was, fifty years ago, a 
perfect mass of human bones, and an- 
nually the plow turned up such masses 
that the surface was white with them. 
Another field of about eight acres, in 
front of the residence of John Feurt, 
Esq., is of the same character, and for 
years has yield^^d to the plow an abund- 
ant crop of human remains. I need not 
say these fields have maintained their 
reputation for productiveness through a 
long series of years, although almost 
every year tilled with the plow. Both 
these fields have been very productive 
of stone axes, pipes, arrows and spear- 
heads, as well as a great variety of stone 
ornaments and other implements of an- 
tique fashion. 

In addition to these various burying 
places, we have the gravel banks and 
cairns, now used for improving our 
roads and turnpikes. The gravel-beds 
are located a few feet below the surface 
and near the top of the second terrace. 
In the surface gravel yards the bones 
consisted almost entirely of the trunk 
and extremities; few or no entire skulls 
have been found; while in the gravel- 
beds entire skeletons are quite co: imon 
and are frequently obtained. 

Why these different forms of burial 
were practiced has been a fruitless in- 
quiry. As I have said, the bodies 
buried in the surface graveyards were 
most numerous; in the small mounds, 
seldom more than two were found; in 
the gravel beds less frequent than in the 
surface fields, and in the cairns never 
more than one. It is not imp bable 
that many may have died from tl t eat 
calamity which ultimately drove uiem 
to emigration; or desolating epidemics 
may have decimated their population 
then as now, requiring them to dispose 
of their dead as early as possible; hence 
these surface burials. When hasty 
burials were not urgent the gravel beds 
would have been selected as m st de- 
sirable, because of their freedo'. from 
moisture, and their rapid drainac. , 

The cairns are located in all cases 
upon the tops of the highest and most con- 
spicuous head-lands, and are conical in 
form, consisting of small stones, none of 
which is larger than one could easily 



PORTSMOUTH AND VICINITY. 



11 



manipulate. These are thrown together 
promiscuously, and destitute of any of 
the paraphernalia of burials of that pe- 
riod,— no arrows or spear-points, no 
axes, no ornaments, but nu(ie as he 
came into the world he went out, not 
even a pipe to console him on his last 
journey. 

It is manifest to me that these were 
places of execution for those whose of- 
fenses were of a character not to be par- 
doned or condoned. Here they were 
stoned to death, a method of punish- 
ment early practiced by the human 
race; and these h'l^h places were se- 
lected that all from below might see 
the end of the malefactor and avoid his 
fate. It is probable, too, that every 
member of his family, tribe or race 
were made executioners of that man, 
who had forfeited the respect and 
protection of his fellow-citizens. All 
marched up the hill armed with the 
implements of death, which they piled 
upon the unfortunate culprit, the instru- 
ments of his destruction becoming his 
tomb, to perpetuate the memory of his 
Clime. These cairns are located as fol- 
lows: One on Campbell's hill, above 
Brush Creek ; one back of Alexander, 
below the old bed of the Scioto River; 
another on what is called Raven Rock, 
a prominent head-land about one mile 
below Alexander, on the Ohio River. 
Another of these cairns is found upon 
ihe farm of J. B. Gregory, Esq., located 
upon a high head-land, three miles be- 
low Raven Rock, from which may be 
seen the whole of the Front street of 
Portsmouth, six miles distant. 

The stone from this cairn was placed 
upon the Buena Vista turnpike, and I 
have not been able to ascertain whether 
any human bones were found in it or 
not. The base of this was about fifteen 
feet in diameter, and, when first no- 
ticed, eight feet high. In size these 
cairns correspond with the smaller 
earthen mounds, being about fifteen or 
twenty feet in diameter and from three 
to eight feet high.. 

Other cairns are found in different 
parts of our county— a number in the 
vicinity of John Feurt's, Esq.— several 
near Franklin Furnace, and quite a 
number in Kentucky, in the neighbor- 
hood of B. King, Esq., upon whose farm 
are found some very interesting earth- 
works ; but most of these ancient works 
have been mutilated, thrown down or 
removed, and I am not advised of their 
contents. The first three named con- 
tained each an entire human skeleton, 
and nothing else. All these cairns are 
located on high and conspicuous head- 
lands, and can be seen a great distance. 



Besides these stone-piles there is one 
other, but of a different form and char- 
acter, situated near Turkey Creek, on 
what was many years ago called "the 
Bradford farm." It is an exact square, 
with an area inside of more than half 
an acre, and gate-ways in the middle of 
either side. The walls were about four 
feet high, with a base of about twenty 
feet, composed of stone like the cairns, 
piled up promiscuously. 

Many conjectures have been enter- 
tained in regard to the purposes for 
which this work was intended— some 
think it was erected by the same people 
who built the cairns; others attribute 
it to the early French settlers, when 
they occupied this valley, to defend 
themselves from any hostile enemy, 
whether aboriginal or Anglo-Saxon ; 
and they offer for proof a tradition, 
among the early Anglo-Saxon settlers, 
that the gate- ways were supported on 
either side by stone pillars, and sur- 
mounted by an arch of the same. As 
yet there is nothing satisfactory as to, 
or in any manner pointing out, the 
purposes for which it was erected. 

The circles, flanked by a ditch and a 
large area of level land on the inside, 
one would believe were intended to keep 
something in and not to keep any thing 
out; if for the latter purpose the trench 
would have been placed on the outside, 
thereby elevating the walls. Every one 
will at once perceive that it would be far 
easier to surmount this wall from with- 
out than from within. One of these 
circles is located on the farm of Mrs. 
Micklethwait, and was two hundred 
and eight feet in diameter, with one 
entrance way, which the ditch did not 
pass, the surface being continuous from 
without to the area within; the open- 
ing in this circle faced the north. Forty 
years ago this embankment was about 
three feet high and the trench three 
feet deep, making the wall three feet 
higher on the inside than on the out- 
side. 

That these were inclosures to restrain 
and protect some wild animals, which 
they had been able to domesticate, is 
very probable ; and that they were large 
and massive can not be doubted ; else 
why these firm and solid inclosures? I 
know of no reason why the mammoth 
of that day might not have been do- 
mesticated as the elephant of the pres- 
ent, and become as docile, tractable and 
submissive as that animal now is to the 
inhabitants of the East. If this con- 
jecture is correct, it is more than proba- 
ble that these places were made for 
the safe-keeping and security of these 



12 



ANTIQUITIES OF 



tamed animals; that, when needed, 
they mio:ht be made available without 
the loss of time. These eircumvalla- 
tions are less numerous than those of 
an<j:ular shape, and are made peculiar 
by the presence of a trench on the inner 
side, while the latter has no ditch 
within or without. 

Before describing the remainder of the 
ancient works in Kentucky, east of 
Portsmouth, I will give the measure- 
ments of the Temple mound. The top 
of the tnound is now forty-five feet above 
the surrounding surface, the outer circle 
is six hundred and forty feet in diam- 
eter—eighty-four feet from the mound 
to the first, or inner circle — the area on 
top is fifty by seventy-five feet, the long- 
est diameter north and south. A few 
years more and civilization will remove 
the last vestige of this vast pile ; for the 
plow is every year passing freely and 
deeply over the mound and its ap- 
pendages. A short time and no traces 
of it can be discovered forever. 

Directly west, one mile and a half, we 
find a circular embankment, ditch and 
mound and an angular inclosure. This 
angular inclosure is peculiar in its form, 
being an irregular or unequal sided hex- 
agon, and near it is a mound surrounded 
by an embankment and ditch on the 
inside. These are located on the farm 
of Mr. Biggs, near the residence of 
Benjamin King, E-sq., about four miles 
east of Portsmouth, and like all other 
ancient works are upon the second 
terrace. The hexagon measures on its 
longer sides one hundred and twenty 
feet, on the shorter, seventy-five feet. 
When first observed the embankments 
were four feet high and the ditch three 
feet deep, but it is now nearly leveled. 
The circle is one hundred and forty-five 
feet in diameter with a ditch inside 
twelve feet deep, the mound is about six 
or seven feet nigh, the entrance way 
across the ditch is on the south side"^; 
this work is quite perfect, the embank- 
ment is so high and the ditch so deep 
that horses and plow cannot be made to 
operate, and no demolition could be ob- 
tained without the spade, the mattock, 
the shovel and a large amount of hard 
work, hence its preservation to the 
present time. 

About three fourths of a mile west of 
these works, on the land of Esquire 
King, is a mound in a good state of 
preservation, eighteen feet and a half 
high, without embankment or ditch, and 
covered by the native forest. An equal- 
sided and equal-angled square is found 
on the west side of the Scioto river, near 
Pond creek, on the farm of Mr. Hay- 
man ; this square has four openings, one 



in the center of each of its sides. The 
ovoid circle in its longer diameter is 459 
feet; shorter diameter 390 feet; within 
which is represented an animal resem- 
bling the tapyr. The squares accom- 
panying this ovoid circle had, at its first 
examination, the remains of furnaces or 
fire-places in each corner— such as 
broken stone, burnt clay, ashes and coal, 
but these have all disappeared, leaving 
a perfectly smooth surface. At this 
place in excavating the canal, large 
sheets of mica were found depo^sited in 
piles as if intended to be used, perhaps 
in the furnaces above named ; this mica 
was no doubt brought from the Alle- 
ghany mountains, as none of the kind 
is known nearer than that point. East 
of theaniri-ial mound is a mound with 
circular ditch and embankment, but 
nearly obliterated. Near the late resi- 
dence of the widow Hannah Lucas, is a 
small circular embankment on thecmter 
edge of Pond Creek bottom, abuttmg 
against a high bluff bank. This circle 
encloses the outlet of a spring which 
rises near the top of the bank, and is 
one hundred and seventy-one feet in 
diameter with an opening or gateway 
facing westerly, through which the 
waste water of the spring passes off. 
I am told there is a mound a short dis- 
tance up Pond Creek on the farm of the 
late Jacob Hibbs, but have never seen it. 
There are the remains of many ancient 
works from Pond Creek to the head- 
land back of Unionville, but too much 
obliterated to describe. This Unionville 
head-land will be described with the 
works on Turkey Creek. 

The citadel, or central works of this 
ancient people is located on what is 
called the county infirmary grounds, 
and consists of circles, segments, etc. 
We have first a circle five hundred feet 
in diameter, with four openings or gate- 
ways, north-east, south-east, south-west 
and north-west. The south-east and 
north-west are directly opposite the 
opening of the south-east parallels and 
the common opening of the north-west 
and south-west parallels. The south- 
west gate opens upon the 1,000 acre 
tract comprised within the south-west 
and south-east parallels. When sur- 
veyed these walls were not over two 
feet in height, while all others were 
from three to five feet. Within this 
circle there are two large horseshoe 
formations twelve feet in hight, and 
two smaller ones of only three feet ele- 
vation ; the two larger occupy the 
greater portion of the area within the 
circle, being one hundred and five feet 
across that part of the shoe representing 
the heel ; the smaller, twelve feet across 



PORTSMOUTH AND VICINITY. 



13 



the same part, and located on either 
side of the south-east opening. Some 
fifteen or twenty rods south-east, on the 
outer side of the parallels extending in 
that direction, is another of these form- 
ations of the same size of the smaller 
ones in the larger circle, with the open- 
ing facing west of south. 

Directly east of these works is an ir- 
regular, yet symmetrical elevation of 
twelve feet, with a flat top containing 
about one-third of an acre, called by 
Messrs. Squier and Davis a "Natural 
Elevation." Why they have so desig- 
nated it, is difficult to conjecture, for 
there is not any part of these ancient 
works which more clearly shows the 
hand of man than this. This elevation, 
by one of its arms extending east, con- 
nects with the Kendall mound, now 
twenty-eight feet high, having a level 
area on top of fifteen by twenty feet, 
being elliptical in form; and was, no 
doubt, a place of religious observances, 
used on ordinary occasions and in the 
same manner as the temple mound was 
occupied for extraordinary purposes. 

East of this mound is situated the 
Lawson mound, now ninety-two feet 
high, and used by the Lawson family 
as a cemetery; it has a flat top contain- 
ing about one-third of an acre. Lawson 
mound is connected, by an elevated ridge 
and an e'dsy grade, with Bitter-sweet 
hill, which, like Kinney hill, is com- 
pletely isolated, and separated from the 
river system of hills by a large inter- 
vening space. The east and west sides 
of this elevation are very precipit- 
ous, lying at an angle of between 50° 
and 60°, difficult to climb and only ac- 
cessible by the graded ways at either 
end. It was, no doubt, a spur from the 
river hills on the north, the connection 
removed to increase the hight of this 
head-land, now three hundred and fift^^- 
one feet above the level of the town of 
Portsmouth. That this was once a 
continuation of the river system of hills, 
is inferred from the fact that at its most 
northern part there are, cropping out, 
strata of rocks like those in the adjacent 
hills. 

In speaking of Kinney hill, I omitted 
mention of a mound north of that hill, 
nineteen feet high, with a flat top, the 
area of which was sufficiently large to 
accommodate a good sized dwelling, 
which was erected thereon by a me- 
chanic, who had gained considerable 
reputation, for that day, as an astron- 
omer. This was quite an eligible loca- 
tion for that study, and the hill adja- 
cent would give the widest range of 
horizon to be obtained any-where in 
this vicinity. There is, directly east of 



this mound and between the two north- 
ern spurs of Kinney hill, a long em- 
bankment, now three feet high, which 
seems to have been intended as a pro- 
tection to the northern extremity of 
that hill against the encroachii»ents of 
any thing not admissable to that lo- 
cality. 

There are, no doubt, works of this 
ancient people in other parts of this 
county; but I have had no opportunity 
to examine any except a mound oppo- 
site the residence of A. Marsh, Esq., 
and the works on Turkey Creek ; the 
mound is very large at the base, but 
much reduced in hight by cultivation. 
Measurements of the base of this mound, 
taken a short time since, have been 
mislaid and are not available. 

From Pond creek to the headland 
back of Unionville are many evidences 
of this ancient civilization, but so de- 
faced, by the plow, as to be scarcely per- 
ceptible. The Unionville headland is 
marked on its eastern side by three dis- 
tinct benches of about twelve or fifteen 
feet elevation each, and on its southern 
side by an easy gradeway to the top, 
while on the western and northern sides 
the ascent is very precipitous. The top 
is two hundred and fifty-nine feet above 
the second terrace, or that level on 
which the town of Portsmouth stands. 
From this point to Turkey creek there 
is little worthy of notice, but in the vi- 
cinity of the latter place there are many 
valuable remains, yet, from lack of per- 
sonal observation I am unable to de- 
scribe any of them, except one, com- 
mencing above the creek and terminat- 
ing below. The most important part 
of this work is located on the farm of 
Mitchel Evans, Esq., extending to the 
lands of others. Commencing at the 
foot of the river hills, it passes, in a 
south-westerly direction across the river 
bottom two miles, and terminates, ab- 
ruptly, one hundred and twenty feet be- 
fore it reaches the Ohio river. This 
work is elevated about twelve or fifteen 
feet above the surrounding surface, and 
resembles the fills we frequently see 
where rail roads cross low grounds ; but 
unlike the rail road fill, which has room 
for one track only, this has a surface suf- 
ficiently wide to accommodate tw^enty 
or more, being nearly fifteen rods wide. 
About three-four':hs of a mile from its 
northeastern end are two indentations 
or half circles, extending into the north- 
western side of the embankment; one 
leaving not more than two rods of the 
elevated ground intact ; by the other 
and smaller circle about six rods are left. 
These half circles are perfect in their 
outline, slightly depressed where they 



14 



ANTIQUITIES OF 



follow the base of the elevated ridge, 
with a slight elevation in the center. 
The south-western half circle across its 
two points of termination measures 
about ten or twelve rods, the other not 
more than four or six rods. At the lower 
termination of the south-west segment 
is a large mound located on the top of 
the embankment, a portion of its sides 
forming a part of the ridge and the half 
circle, while the other parts are placed 
on the flat surface of the elevation. The 
height of this mound, when first noticed, 
was over six feet, with quite a large 
base. For what purpose this immense 
pile was erected is difficult to conjecture, 
at this remote period from its construc- 
tion ; but it seems probable that it was 
intended as a barrier to keep off any an- 
noyance from the north-west, thereby 
protecting njany thousands of acres of 
the most valuable land. Or, perhaps, it 
might have been a kind of break-water 
to protect a large body of fine bottom 
which lies directly below, against high 
floods in the Ohio river. 

This appears to be the most western 
work of the mound-builders in this sec- 
tion of country ; none, that I am aware 
of, occurring for more than forty miles, 
in the valley proper of the Ohio, and 
these quite insignificant compared with 
those which exist from this point to the 
mouth of the Big Stindy river. Here 
they seem to stop and no considerable 
works are seen till we come to those ex- 
tensive operations which we find at Ma- 
rietta. ISo decided evidences of the oc- 
cupation of this country by this strange 
people are found west till we come to 
the territory lying between the two Mi- 
amis. In Adams county is found the 
great serpent representation so celebra- 
ted among archaeologists, and other than 
this I know of none of importance, until 
we come to Fort Ancient, on the Little 
Miami. 

In this county, the evidences of this 
antique civilization are found not only 
in the stupendous earth-works they have 
thrown up, but in the condition of the 
surface which they have left, and in the 
terraces they have formed along the 
bases of the hills. Many of their eleva- 
tions have an inclination of from 45° to 
50° or 60°; yet, for ages they have un- 
dergone no change; but still preserve 
their integrity, and hold the same grade, 
notwithstanding the inroads of civiliza- 
tion. Some of the hills which they have 
manipulated, and which have stood for 
ages preserving their beautiful outline, 
until the present race began to cultivate 
the surface; when a few years so disin- 
tegrated that surface that, in many in- 
stances, a plow and horses could not 



stand upon it. Even those surfaces that 
are slightly inclined, since we began to 
improve them, have yieded to the run- 
ning waters until they have become 
entirely changed. 

So striking is this pecularity for pre- 
serving earthen surfaces, that wecaimot 
refuse to believe, long years of observa- 
tion and experience had educated them 
up to a point which we, with all our 
boasted civilization, have not yet at- 
tained. 

It is not probable that the immense 
population which once occupied this 
western valley, greatly exceeding what 
will probably be on it at the end of the 
next 50 or 75 years, could have lived on 
the fruits of the chase alone ; it is natural 
to conclude they cultivated the soil, 
were pertnanently located, in large num- 
bers, at different points, and, from the 
evidence we have of their adaptation to 
handle the surface we must conclude 
they were good cultivators. If so, they 
required enclosures to protect them- 
selves and their crops against the incur- 
sions and depredations of the large an- 
imals which then prevailed throughout 
the whole country. Many of these 
animals were very massive, in bulk 
equaling the rhinoceros, in height sur- 
passing the elephant, with muscles and 
bones to correspond. The anterior feet 
of the tapyr were four feet long and a 
body in proportion. The mastodon was 
sixteen feet long and twelve feet high. 
These animals were not to be trifled 
with, although they were not active, 
yet their power was immense, and be- 
ing vegetable eaters required something 
more substantial than our ordinary 
fences to bar their progress. If an an- 
imal increases in number it must be be- 
cause it is happier, more comfortable 
and more secure. Schoolcraft, in his 
history of the Indian tribes, estimates 
that in a population which lives on the 
products of the chase, each hunter re- 
quires, on an average, 50,000 acres or 78 
square miles for his support. He tells 
us that in Michigan Territory, east of 
the lake and north of Indiana and Ohio, 
there were in the year 1825 90,000 In- 
dians occupying 77,000,000 acres, one in- 
habitant to every one and one quarter 
square miles. These estimates will ap- 
ply all over the United States where 
the Indians have entire possession. In 
many of these cases the Indians live 
partly on subsidies granted them by 
government in exchange for their lands, 
and the population was greater than 
would have been the case if they had 
lived on the products of the chase. 
These statistics will, though to a less ex- 
tent, apply to all countries where the in- 



PORTSMOUTH AND VICINITY. 



15 



habitants live on aninnal food obtained 
by huntings alone. Population, as a o^en- 
eral rule, increases with civilization. — 
Paraguav, with 100,000 squnre miles, 
has from* 300,000 to 500,000 inhabitants, 
or about four to the square mile. The un- 
civilized parts of Mexico contain 374,000 
inhabitants on 675,000 square miles, 
while Mexico proper contains 6,691,000 
inhabitants on 833,000 square miles. 
Naples had more than 183 inhabitants 
to the square mile; Venetia, more than 
200; Lombardy, 280; England, 332; 
Belgium, the garden of the world, as 
many as 451. In civilized life the means 
of subsistence have increased even more 
rapidly than the population ; food is not 
only absolutely, and I may almost say 
relatively, most abundant in the most 
densely peopled countries. 

It has been said that any one who 
makes two blades of grass grow where 
one grew before is a benefactor of the 
human race; what then shall we say of 
agriculture and civilization, which en- 
ables a thousand men to live in plenty 
where one savage could scarcely find a 
scanty and precarious subsistence? 
There are some who doubt whether 
happiness is increased by civilization, 
and talk glibly of the free and noble 
savage. The true savage is neither free 
nor noble. He is a slave to his own 
wants and to his own passions. Imper- 
fectly protected from the weather, he 
suffers from the cold by night and the 
heat of the sun by day ; ignorant of 
agriculture, living by the chase; im- 
provident when successful, hunger 
always stares him in the face and fre- 
quently drives him to the dreadful alter- 
native of canabalism or death. He has 
no time or inclination to build himself 
a shelter from the storm, or erect de- 
fenses against his enemies ; his whole 
efforts must be spent to keep him from 
immediate starvation. 

Ethnologists tell us that the life of all 
beasts in their wild state is an exceed- 
ingly anxious one. An antelope or a 
deer in the wild woods has literally to 
run for its life once in every two or three i 
days, upon an average, and he starts or 
gallops under the influence of false alarms 
many times a day. So it is with the 
savage, who is only man in a wild state ; 
he is always suspicious, always in dan- 
ger, always on the watch. He can de- 
pend on no one, and no one can depend 
upon him. He expects nothing from 
his neighbor, and does unto others as he 
believes they would do unto him. Even 
in his religion, if he has any, he erects 
for himself new sources of terror, and 
peoples the world with invisible enemies. 

The position of the female savage is I 



infinitely worse and more wretched than 
that of her master. She not only shares 
his toils and privations, but has to bear 
his ill humor and his still more ill usage. 
She may truly be said to be little better 
than his dog, and very little, if any, 
dearer than his horse. A traveler among 
the primitive inhabitants of our world 
says he never saw a woman's grave 
among a savage people, and does not 
think they ever took the trouble to bury 
them ; he believes that few of the 
women are so fortunate as to die a 
natural death, they being generally 
dispatched ere they become old and 
emaciated, that so much good food may 
not be lost. He further says, men feel 
so little attachment for their women 
either before or after death, that it may 
be doubted whether they do not value 
their dogs, when alive, quite as much as 
they do their women, and think of both 
quite as often and lovingly after they 
have eaten them. These facts and the 
whole analogy of nature justifies us in 
the conclusion that civilization increases 
our race, multiplies our enjoyment and / 
is a great assistance to devotional feel- 
ings ; on the other hand it is equally 
satisfactory that there is nothing to ad- 
mire or covet in savage life in any of its 
forms. 

With these statistics and these facts, 
can we, for one moment suppose that 
the mound-builders were savages and 
not an intelligent, industrious and pros- 
perous people? The monuments they 
have left us testify that they were intel- 
ligent, else they could not have laid off 
those angles, squares and circles with so 
much precision and correctness. The 
amount of work done shows they were 
industrious, and the extent of their 
labors must convince us they were pros- 
perous and populous, with no hostile 
enemy to molest or disturb. 

From these facts and reasonings may 
we not fairly conclude that the mound- 
builders, at\he time they occupied our 
State, w^ere more educated, cultivated 
and farther advanced in civilization than 
i any of the prehistoric races of the east- 
ern or any other part of the western 
continent? A careful examination of 
their works will satisfy any unprejudiced 
mind that from their number they had 
an abundance of food, that they had 
confidence in each other, cultivated the 
earth, had shelters to protect them from 
the weather, and respected women suffi- 
ciently to bury them side by side with 
the men. I would not have dwelt so 
long on this point, but there are persons, 
some of them cultivated and intelligent, 
who entertain the opinion that our pres- 
' ent race of Indians are the direct descend- 



16 



ANTIQUITIES OF 



ants of the naound-builders, and but a 
few hundred years have elapsed since the 
ancient civiHzation was in "full blast." 
If this is correct I can only say the 
Indian sinks lower in my estimation 
than ever before. Since in a few cen- 
turies he could depart so far from the 
customs of his illustrious predecessors, 
and drop into the savage and useless 
condition in which we find him. 

In regard to the origin of these people, 
there are a variety of opinins other than 
that expressed above. Some believe 
they were first created and permanently 
located between the tropics, in Central 
America, and from this point spread 
south, north-east and north, till they 
nearly covered the whole continent with 
a dense population. Many there are 
who claim that they came from Central 
Asia, south of the Yablonoi mountains, 
by the way of Behring's straits; passing 
south by the eastern shore of the Pacific 
ocean, peopled South America and the 
north-western and middle portions of 
North America. There are others who 
maintain the opinion that they came 
from Central Asia, north-west; passing 
north of the gulf of Bothnia to Southern 
Scandinavia, thence along the 60th 
parallel of latitude to Labrador, continu- 
ing their course south of Hudson's bay. 
Crossing the St. Lawrence, a south-west 
course brought them into this great 
western valley, where for a time they 
were permanently located, becoming 
very numerous and still progressing 
westward. They can be traced throuuh 
all the States north-west of the Alle- 
ghany to Mexico and the Kocky moun- 
tains. After being located for a long 
period in Central America, they spread 
in all directions till they covered nearly 
the whole continent. By this time ihey 
were greatly advanced in the arts of 
civilized life, clearly manifested by the 
wonderful specimens of architecture still 
in existence through large portions of 
South America. It may be thought by 
some that this was a difficult, if not an 
impossible route for a primitive people, 
unacquainted with navigation and un- 
skilled in nautical life; but when we 
reflect that the surface of our globe, as at 
present constituted, is but one phase of 
the many through which it has passed, 
in the long period of time since its crea- 
tion, can we refuse our assent to the 
proposition that the eastern continent 
was once connected by dry land to the 
western? This is admitted by some 
eminent geologists. It is settled, and 
without a perad venture, that where is 
now water was once land, and where 
land is was once water. Evidences of 
these changes are now found all over 



this and the eastern continent ; besides, 
since historic times, large tracts of coun- 
try have disappeared and others have 
risen. Greenland is believed, by geolo- 
gists, to be now settling, while Norway 
is rising. Since our first knowledge of 
this latter country the waters connecting 
the Baltic sea with the White sea have 
disappeared. 

Geology shows us that changes are'go- 
ing on continually, both in and under 
the crust of this globe. Land has been 
changed to water and water has become 
dry land ; valleys have been raised and 
hills leveled ; marshes have become dry 
land and dry land has become stagnant 
water; springs and rivers have disap- 
peared and new ones have burst out in 
other places ; the waters of some rivers 
have been changed in their course ; 
islands have joined the main land and 
peninsulas have become islands; and 
plains have become upheaved into hills 
and mountains. With these facts before 
us, can we doubt the truth of the tradi- 
tions handed down to us from Africa 
and South America? Plato, in a com- 
munication to Solon, says, "among the 
great deeds of Athens, of which recollec- 
tion is preserved in our books, there is 
one which should be placed above all 
others. Our books tell that the Athen- 
ians destroyed an army which came 
across the Atlantic sea and insolently in- 
vaded Europe and Asia; for this sea 
was then navigable, and beyond the 
strait where you place the Pillars of Her- 
cules, there was an island, larger than 
Asia (Minor) and Libia combined. From 
this island one could pass easily toother 
islands, and from these to the continent 
which lies around the interior sea. The 
sea on this side of the strait (the Medi- 
terranean) of which we speak, resembles 
a harbor with a narrow entrance; but 
there is a genuine sea beyond, and the 
land which surrounds it is a veritable 
continent. In the island of Atlantis 
reigned three kings, with great and mar- 
velous power. They had under their 
dominion the whole of Atlantis, several 
other islands, and parts of the continent. 
At one time their power extended into 
Libia, and into Europe as far as Tyr- 
rhenia; and, uniting their whole force, 
they sought to destroy our countries 
at a blow ; but their defeat stopped the 
invasion and gavQ entire independence 
to all the countries this side of the Pil- 
lars of Hercules. Afterward, in one day 
and one fatal night, there came mighty 
earthquakes and inundations which en- 
gulfed the warlike people. Atlantis dis- 
appeared beneath the sea, and then that 
sea became inaccessible, so that naviga- 
tion ceased on account of the quantity 



PORTSMOUTH AND VICINITY. 



17 



of mud which the engulfed island left 
in its place." 

Plutarch, in his life of Solon, says that 
when that law-o^iver was in Egypt, he 
conferred with the priests and learned 
from them the story of Atlantis. The 
accurate enquirer and historian Diodo- 
rus Siculus, who wrote a history of Per- 
sia, Egypt, Syria, Midia, Greece, Rome 
and Carthage, states that, "over against 
Africa lies a very great island, in the 
vast ocean, not many days' sail from 
Libia westward. The soil there is very 
fruitful, a great part wherof is moun- 
tainous, but much likewise champaign, 
which is the most sweet and pleasant 
part, for it is watered by several navi- 
gable streams, and beautiful with many 
gardens of pleasure, planted with divers 
sorts of trees and an abundance of or- 
chards. The towns are adorned with 
stately buildings and banqueting houses 
pleasantly situated in their gardens and 
orchards." Is not this a very fair de- 
scription of what might be supposed to 
be the condition of South America un- 
der the ancient civilization? Connecting 
this evidence from the ancient classics 
with the traditions from Mexican rec- 
ords of a great catastrophe produced by 
earthquakes and inundations, by which 
a large part of this continent was cov- 
ered by water, and a great portion of the 
population destroyed and the remnant 
cast down, discouraged, crushed : we 
come to the conclusion that this was the 
last of the mound-builders' race. 

At this juncture came the Tartar by 
the way of Behring's straits, down the 
western shore of this continent upon this 
ancient people, and made an easy con- 
quest. And, as the same race did in 
China, adopted the arts and customs of 
the conquered, building up the Aztec 
dynasty in Mexico and Central America. 
The history of these traditions is con- 
tained in the Toltecan mythological 
history of the cataclysm of the Antilles, 
called "^eo AmoxtlV^ 

George Catlin says, "the tribes in 
North America, Central America, Vene- 
zuela, British, Dutch and French Guinea 
distinctly describe these cataclysms, 
one by water, one by fire and the third 
by winds. The tribes nearer the vicin- 
ity of the terrible convulsions were cog- 
nizant of the whole effects of fire and 
winds, when the remote tribes were sen- 
sible only of the flood of waters and the 
throes of the earthquakes which went to 
the base of the mountains." "The fes- 
tival of Izcalli was instituted to com- 
memorate this terrible calamity, in 
which princes and people humbled 
themselves before their Divinity and be- 



sought him not to renew the frightful 
convulsions." 

The Southern tribes, on the sea coast, 
tell, "of the waves coming in from the 
East; of the thousands who ran to the 
high hills of the West ; and of other 
thousands who were submerged under 
the waves of the Ocean." From amidst 
the thunder and flames that came out of 
the sea, whilst mountains were sinking 
and rising, the terror-stricken inhabit- 
ants sought every expedient of safety. 
Some fled to the mountains, and some 
launched their rafts and canoes upon the 
turbulent waters, trusting that a favor- 
able current would land them on a 
hospitable shore, and thus in this ele- 
mental strife this ancient civilized peo- 
ple were broken down, scattered and 
destroyed." 

In this great catastrophe were sub- 
merged the cities of Palenque, Uxmal 
and^others; which after long submer- 
gence are again coming to the surface, 
some with their walls as perfect as when 
they went down. 

While this destruction was going on 
in the peninsula of South America, the 
connection between the western and 
eastern continents, to wit : the bottom 
of the Atlantic ocean, was being sub- 
merged, and the Appalachian range of 
mountains elevated ; from the Adiron- 
dacks in the East to the Ozarks in the 
West, forming a continuous shore of an 
immense inland sea, extending from the 
Rocky Mountains to the Adirondacks, 
and from the Saskatchewan in the North 
to the Cumberland in the South ; form- 
ing a basin whose border commenced 
at the Rocky Mountains, passing 
through Rupert's Land, South of Hud- 
son Bay, to near Quebec, across the St. 
Lawrence, to the Adirondacks, follow- 
ing the Allegheny range through the 
Cumberland Mountains, crossing the 
Mississippi to the Ozark Mountains, in 
Arkansas, and joining the Rocky Moun- 
tains. 

There was formed the largest inland 
sea ever known, and the immense tract 
of country comprised within these limits 
became in time submerged, and so re- 
mained for a long series of years, how 
long I can not even guess, but long 
enough to deposit the upper stratum of 
rocks now found in our hills, and to 
leave a heavy deposit over the whole 
surface, of from one to six feet of fine, 
rich sediment. This accounts for the 
fact that most of the ancient stone im- 
plements obtained in our time are found 
covered up ; some are disinterred six or 
seven feet below the surface; not from 
alluvial wastings from the hills, but 



18 



ANTIQUITIES OF 



from diluvial deposits in still water. 
This lars^e body of water in the interior, 
only recently removed (geologically 
speaking), accounts for the residence of 
the later Indian on the sea coast ; hav- 
ing no hunting grounds, he had to de- 
pend principally on fish and mollusks. 
The western valley not having been 
elevated sufficiently long to supply his 
wants, his visits were "few and far be- 
tween." 

The conjectures as to the causes which 
produced the destruction or dispersion 
of this people from the valley of the 
Ohio, are as numerous as the opinions 
concerning their origin; all differing as 
to whence they came or whither they 
went, and what led to their departure. 
Some attribute their disappearance to 
numerous enemies by whom they were 
surrounded and destroyed ; others think, 
some terrible pestilence became general 
among them and they were thus de- 
stroyed. But from the evidence still 
obtainable it is quite probable they were 
gradually forced away and compelled to 
seek a more favorable climate; this be- 
coming too cold for them to remain 
longer in it. When the "Great Ice age" 
came down upon them from the North, 
a few seasons satisfied them that emigra- 
tion to a warmer climate was indispens- 
able. Accordingly, their line of march 
was selected and directed in the only 
course in which an amelioration of the 
difficulty could be expected or obtained. 
Hence, we find them journeying to the 
South and West, through the States of 
Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Ala- 
bama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana 
and Texas. In none of these States do 
we find any evidence of their becoming 
stationary at any one point ; no exten- 
sive works, such as we see in Ohio, are 
anywhere to be found on their route from 
Ohio to Mexico; the only evidence of 
their wanderings is an occasional mound 
or mounds, for burial or for worship. 

The first work of importance, after 
their exodus, is found in Mexico ; the 
great pyramid of Choiula. Here they 
seem to have tarried long enough to 
erect this mausoleum, in which two 
skeletons only were found. 

Until we arrive in Central America, 
we find nothing to justify the belief that 
they were permanently settled at any 
point. Here they improved much in 
their architecture and method of build- 
ing, changing earth for stone, in which 
latter they soon excelled. From this 
point they soon spread south and west 
over the southern continent, and as soon 
as the ice receded, progressing north into 
Mexico, Southern Arizona and New 



Mexico, where are numerous evidences 
of their existence; scattered over the 
surface a perpetual witness of their skill 
in architecture. These works, in the 
latter two places, are elevated above the 
level of the great ocean, before described. 
After prospering and progressing for a 
long series of years, and becoming an 
extensive, a prosperous and a wonderful 
people, having arrived at the zenith of 
their power, came the great cataclysm, 
causing almost the entire destruction of 
their cities, their civilization and their 
race. The Aztecs coming down upon 
them, from the North, in their helpless- 
ness and desolation made an easy con- 
quest; and, as has been said, adopting 
their arts and civilization, built up the 
Mexican confederacy; imitating but not 
excelling the ancient race. 

I have given a description of most of 
the ancient works in Scioto county. 
There were some in Kentucky, con- 
nected with those on this side of the 
Ohio, which I may, at some future day, 
survey and describe, should circum- 
stances permit. 

In taking a general view of all the cir- 
cumstances connected with these an- 
tiquities, we are forcibly impressed with 
the conviction that this whole western 
valley has, within a short geological 
period, been deeply submerged ; per- 
haps, more than once; the last time 
much nearer our present era than many 
of us are willing to admit. Is it not 
probable that the absence of a forest 
growth on a large part of the area of 
this valley may be attributed to this 
fact. It is certain that the eastern part 
of this Ohio Valley was first elevated 
above the water, and as the flood re- 
ceded the growth of timber followed the 
recession of the water ; accounting for 
the absence of forests on the lowest parts 
of the valley, they being the last uncov- 
ered. I do not understand that the val- 
ley of the Ohio was densely populated 
by the present race of Indians, at its dis- 
covery and settlement by the Anglo- 
Saxon ; all the early histories of the val- 
ley seem to convey the idea that the In- 
dians were far more numerous on the 
sea coast than in the interior, and, from 
all the evidence I can procure, it ap- 
pears to me that the race was not 
numerous in the West, until they were 
driven back by the Anglo-Saxon. It 
appears that this valley was first peo- 
pled from the borders of the great sea, 
on all its sides ; and that Indiana, Ohio 
and Blinois were among the last so pec- 

Six or seven centuries only have 
elapsed since this valley was covered 



PORTSMOUTH AND VICINITY. 



19 



with water; the first outlet being the 
St. Lawrence, drawing oflf the waters 
north of the summit level between the 
Ohio and the lakes. At a later period, 
the outlet of the Mississippi relieved 
this great valley of its surplus water. 
The higher portions of the valley, being 
first elevated above the out-flowing 
water, were first to produce vegetation ; 
and there the forest first commenced to 
grow, following the receding waters. 



The prairies, being the last uncovered, 
are the last to show a forest growth. 

From all the evidence I can make 
available, I am satisfied this valley was 
not inhabited by the later Indian, or 
even habitable but a few years before 
the discovery of Columbus, and that it 
was occupied, many centuries before its 
submergence, by the "Ancient Civiliza- 
tion." 

January, 1875. 



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